ConQuesT is the annual
science fiction and fantasy convention held in the
Kansas City, Missouri area over the U. S.
Memorial Day weekend. It is sponsored by the long-running (since 1971) Kansas City Science Fiction and Fantasy Society (KaCSFFS, pronounced kax-fuss). ConQuesT is the oldest such fan convention of its type in
Missouri and in the U. S. central states region, first established using the name Mid-America Con in June 1972. After that, the next nine KaCSFFS-sponsored conventions were named
BYOB-Cons (the final "B" in the name having additional and alternate science fictional meanings beyond the traditional meanings.) In 1980 KaCSFFS adopted the permanent name ConQuesT (sometimes abbreviated CQT) for the convention.
The convention's purpose is to celebrate science fiction, fantasy, and horror "in all its various forms",[1] but with a nod toward the literary side of these closely related genres. For some years its programming has been built around a different yearly theme.[2]
Conventions
1970s
Mid-America Con – Held June, 16-18, 1972 at the downtown Hotel Continental, and featured author guests of honor
Philip Jose Farmer and
James E. Gunn, fan guests Vern and Rita Coriell, special guest
Russ Myers, and toastmasters Ken Keller and Jim Loehr.
BYOB-Con 1 (relaxicon) – Held on a weekend in late fall 1972 at the Glenwood Manor Motor Hotel (no guests of honor). It used a well-stocked convention suite with an attached room used for minimal item programming, including a few genre films shown in
16 mm.
BYOB-Con 2 (relaxicon) – Held spring 1973 at the Glenwood Manor Motor Hotel (no guests of honor). See previous entry for matching details.
BYOB-Con 3 (relaxicon/3 day long fan party with
filk singing, partying, games, discussions, fanzines, more partying, and a BBQ cookout with all the trimmings) – Held in fall of 1973 at a private residence in Independence, MO (no guests of honor).
BYOB-Con 5 – Held summer 1975 at the Radisson Muehlebach Hotel, and featured author guest of honor
Robert Bloch, fan guests Ron & Linda Bushyager, special guests
Harlan Ellison,
Tim Kirk, and toastmaster
Bob Tucker.
BYOB-Con 6 – Held 1976 at the Airport Marriott Hotel, and featured author guest of honor
C. L. Moore, fan guest Fred Haskell, and toastmaster Jodi Offut.
BYOB-Con 9 – Held 1979 at the Grandview Hotel, and featured author guest of honor
Karl Edward Wagner, fan guest Martha Beck, special guest author Carl Sherrell, and toastmaster
Andrew J. Offutt.
ConQuesT 2 – Held 1981 at the Hotel Continental, and featured author guest of honor
Poul Anderson, fan guest of honor Donald C. Thompson, and toastmaster
Lee Killough.
ConQuesT 3 – Held 1982 at the downtown Roadway Inn, and featured author guest of honor
Norman Spinrad, fan guest of honor Nancy Nutt, and toastmaster
Warren Norwood.
ConQuesT 4 + 10 (including 1970s cons) – Held 1983 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
Kate Wilhelm, fan guest Ken Moore, and toastmaster
John Kessel.
ConQuesT 15 – Held 1984 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
Frederik Pohl, fan guest Susan Satterfield, and toastmaster
Thomas M. Disch.
ConQuesT 17 – Held 1986 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
Tim Powers, fan guest Ann Layman Chancellor, and toastmaster
Edward Bryant.
ConQuesT 18 – Held 1987 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
John Varley, artist guest of honor
Don Maitz, fan guest
Brian Thomsen, and toastmaster
Rusty Hevelin.
ConQuesT 19 – Held 1988 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
Howard Waldrop, artist guest of honor
Carl Lundgren, fan guest Bob Hise, and toastmaster
David G. Hartwell.
ConQuesT 20 – Held 1989 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
Elizabeth Scarborough, artist guest Angela Lowry, fan guest Rebekah Rogge, and toastmaster
C. J. Cherryh.
1990s
ConQuesT 21 – Held 1990 at the downtown Howard Johnson's Central, and featured author guest of honor
Melinda M. Snodgrass, fan guest David Means, artist guest
Darrell K. Sweet, and toastmaster
Bradley Denton.
ConQuesT 22 – Held 1991, and featured author guest of honor
John Kessel, fan guest Laura LeHew, artist guest Dan Patterson, and toastmaster
Mike McQuay.
ConQuesT 23 – Held May 22–24, 1992 and featured author guest of honor
Michael Kube-McDowell, fan guest "Uncle Timmy" Bolgeo, artist guest
Bob Eggleton, and toastmaster
Vic Milan.
ConQuesT 24 – Held May 28–30, 1993 and featured author guest of honor
James P. Hogan, fan guest Parris (later Parris McBride), artist guest Nick Smith, and toastmaster
Steven Gould.
ConQuesT 25 – Held May 27–30, 1994 at the Park Place Hotel and featured author guest of honor
Steven Brust, fan guest Leonard Bishop, artist guest
David Cherry, and toastmaster
Pat Cadigan.
ConQuesT 26 – Held May 26–28, 1995 at the Park Place Hotel, featured author guest of honor
Octavia Butler, fan guest Cheryl Medley, artist guest
David Lee Anderson, special guest
Mike Glyer, and toastmaster
Mike Resnick.
ConQuesT 27 – Held May 24–26, 1996 at the Park Place Hotel, and featured guest of honor
Allen Steele, fan guest Myrna Logan, artist guest
Lubov, special guest
Wilson "Bob" Tucker, and toastmaster
Lee Killough.
ConQuesT 28 – Held May 23–25, 1997, at the Park Place Hotel, and featured guest of honor
Larry Niven, fan guest Bob Stoltman, artist guest
Alan M. Clark, and toastmaster
Wm. Mark Simmons.[3]
ConQuesT 29 – Held May 22–24, 1998, at the Park Place Hotel, and featured guest of honor
K. W. Jeter, fan guest Gerald Burton, artist guest Keith Berdak, and toastmaster
Vic Milan.[4][5]
ConQuesT 30 – Held May 28–30, 1999, at the Park Place Hotel, and featured guest of honor
David Drake, artist guest Robert "J.R." Daniels, fan guest Samantha "Star" Straf, special guest
Wilson "Bob" Tucker, and toastmaster
Esther Friesner.[6]
2000s
ConQuesT 31 – Held May 26–28, 2000 at the Park Place Hotel, and featured guest of honor
Walter Jon Williams, fan guests
Dick Smith and Leah Zeldes Smith, artist guest
Brad W. Foster, and toastmaster
Darrell K. Sweet. Convention theme: "It's the end of the world as we know it!"
ConQuesT 32 – Held May 25–27, 2001, at the Park Place,[7] and featured guest of honor
James K. Morrow, fan guest Roger Tener, artist guest Bill Hodgson, and toastmaster Stephen Pagel.
ConQuesT 33 – Held May 24–26, 2002, at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, featured guest of honor
Connie Willis, fan guest of honor Michael J. Walsh, artist guest
Frank Kelly Freas, toastmaster
Patrick Nielsen Hayden.[8] Theme was "33 1/3"
ConQuesT 34 – Held May 23–25, 2003 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, and featured guest of honor
Elizabeth Moon, fan guest Suzanne Carnival-Reece, artist guest of honor
Vincent Di Fate, special guest
John Ringo, and toastmaster
Ellen Datlow.[9][10]
ConQuesT 35 – Held May 28–30, 2004 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, and featured author guest of honor
Jennifer Roberson and artist guest of honor
Jody A. Lee.[2][11]
ConQuesT 36 – Held May 27–29, 2005 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, and featured author guest of honor
Joe Haldeman, fan guests Les and Jeanette Roth, artist guest Theresa Mather, and toastmaster
George R. R. Martin.
ConQuesT 37 – Held May 26–28, 2006 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, and featured author guest of honor
Kage Baker, fan guest Charles Piehl, and artist guest Mitch Bentley, and toastmaster
Howard Waldrop.[12]
ConQuesT 39 – Held May 23–25, 2008 at the Kansas City Airport Hilton, and featured author guest of honor
Joe R. Lansdale, fan guests Chris and Laurie Felknor, media guests
Jeff East and
Ellen Muth, artist guest David Lee Anderson, and toastmaster
William Mark Simmons.[14][15]
ConQuesT 41 – Held May 28–30, 2010 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, and featured author guest of honor
Michael Swanwick, fan guest Geri Sullivan, artist guest Peri Charlifu, special guest
Pete Abrams, and toastmaster
Toni Weisskopf. The theme for the weekend was "Steampunk and Evil Geniuses".[18]
ConQuesT 42 – Held May 27–29, 2011 at the Hyatt Regency Crown Center, and featured author guest of honor
Tamora Pierce, fan guest
Tadao Tomomatsu, artist guest Erin McKee, media guest The Great Luke Ski, and toastmaster
Rachel Caine.[19] The theme for the weekend was "Life, the Universe, and ... you know the drill ... bring your own towel!"
ConQuesT 44 – Held May 24–26, 2013, at the Holiday Inn CoCo Key Water Resort (eastern Kansas City, Missouri), and featured guests of honor
Patrick Rothfuss, fan guest Christopher Garcia, artist guest
John Picacio, editor guest
Teresa Nielsen Hayden, comics guest
John Kovalic, and toastmaster
Patricia C. Wrede. Other program participants included fantasy authors
George R. R. Martin and
Bradley Denton. The theme for the convention weekend was "Magic, Mystery & Mayhem".
ConQuesT 45 – Held May 23–25, 2014, at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, and featured guests of honor
Glen Cook, fan guests Barb and Ray VanTillburg, artist guest David Lee Pancake, science guest Bridget Landry of
JPL, and toastmaster
Caroline Spector. The theme was "Fantasy and Science Fiction
Noir".
ConQuesT 46 – Held May 22–24, 2015, at the Kansas City Marriott Downtown, and featured guests of honor
Brandon Sanderson, fan guest Mark Oshiro, artist guest
Nene Thomas, editor guest
George R. R. Martin, and toastmaster
Selina Rosen. The convention's theme was "The Adventure Begins HERE!", an homage to role play gaming.
ConQuesT 48 – Held May 26–28, 2017, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, and featured guests of honor
Robert J. Sawyer, fan guest Zac Zacarola, artist guest Rachel Mayo, and toastmaster
Jonathan Maberry. No convention theme was adopted.
ConQuesT 49 – Held May 25–27, 2018, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, and featured writer guest of honor
Steven Barnes, fan guest Aurora Celeste, artist guest
Elizabeth Leggett, toastmaster Scott Washington, and special guest Matt Jacobson. The convention theme was "Exploring Unexpected Worlds".[citation needed]
ConQuesT 50 – Held May 24–26, 2019 at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, and featured writer guest of honor
Timothy Zahn, artist guest of honor Charles Urbach, and fan guests of honor Jennifer and James Liang. The convention's theme was "Mad Science and Experimental Wizardry".
2020s
ConQuesT 51 – Canceled due to the world-wide Covid-19
pandemic. The convention was to have been held on its usual Memorial Day holiday weekend, 2020, at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center. The Writer Guest of Honor was to have been
Mary Robinette Kowal, the Artist Guest of Honor was to have been Toni L. Taylor, and the Fan Guest of Honor was to have been Jim Young. No convention theme had been announced at the time the convention was canceled on March 29, 2020.
ConQuesT 52 – Due to the on-going world-wide Covid-19 pandemic, the convention was held virtually on-line at the ConQuesT website and the
Discord platform during the three day Memorial Day weekend, May 28–30, 2021.
Becky Chambers was the Writer Guest of Honor.
Dan Wells was also the Writer Guest of Honor. Toni L. Taylor was the Artist Guest of Honor. The convention theme was "The Future Is Now (and Then)".
ConQuesT 53 – Held May 27–29, 2022 at the Sheraton Kansas City Hotel at Crown Center, and featured writer guest of honor
Fonda Lee, artist guest of honor
Donato Giancola, and fan guests of honor Ken Keller (founder of ConQuesT & KaCSFFS) and Jim Young.
Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award winner
Jessica Campbell was also a special guest of honor. No convention theme was announced, but it was ConQuesT's 50th anniversary (1972-2022).
Sooby, David (editor). The Handbook of the Kansas City Science Fiction & Fantasy Society, Version 2.1. KaCSFFS Press, 2002. No ISBN. Contains convention listings through 2002.